Mu`âdh b. Jabal relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said

Mu`âdh b. Jabal relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: “O Mu`âdh! Do you know what is Allah’s right over His servants and what their right is over Him?”

I said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.”

He said: “Allah’s right over His servants is that they worship Him without associating any partner with Him in worship, and their right over Him is that He does not punish anyone who worships Him without associating any partner with Him in worship.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim]

Islam came as a new religion to the world, reviving, invigorating, and kindling the greatest human values and qualities. Its message was unambiguous and it came with clear injunctions enumerating the rights of the human being – the rights of the governed and those who govern; the rights of the young and old; the rights of the student and the teacher; the rights of the man, woman, and child; the rights of the employee and the employer…

When Islam came forth onto the world and announced its truth, it came upon nations that had long been neglectful of what is right and had transgressed against the rights of the people. People saw Islam as coming to their rescue. This is the secret behind why Islam spread so rapidly to the farthest reaches of the known world. People accepted it with their hearts and their minds. They freely embraced the faith, because of the unprecedented way that Islam guaranteed and protected their human rights.

This hadîth above speaks about Allah’s rights over the people and their rights over Allah. Islamic legal scholars have spoken at length about this topic, and they have concluded that the rights of Allah are based upon leniency and pardon, whereas the rights of human beings are incontestable.

The theory of human rights in Islam has a strong spiritual dimension. The human being is directly accountable to his Lord. It is not just a matter of accountability before the law. Honoring the rights of other human beings is a means by which a person can become elevated in the sight of his Lord – or debased if he does not honor those rights. In other words, the issue of upholding human rights becomes a means by which a person’s fate in the Hereafter can be sealed.

Indeed, the Prophet (peace be upon him) describes how a person can arrive “bankrupt” on the Day of Judgment without any good deeds to his credit, simply because he failed to uphold the rights of others.

Abû Hurayrah relates in Sahîh Muslim:

  

. .The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked us: “Do you know who is bankrupt?” 

We replied: “The one among us who is bankrupt is someone who has neither gold nor silver nor any provision.” 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said: “Among my people, the one who is bankrupt is the one who – after praying, fasting, and paying charity – arrives on the Day of Judgment having cursed one person and slandered another, assaulted another, and misappropriated the wealth of someone else. Then those people will be given of his good deeds, and if his good deeds run out before redress is made, then some of their sins will be taken from them and put upon him. Then he will be cast into Hell.”

. .The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The nest of you is the one who exhibits the best ethical conduct.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim] 

This ethical conduct is none other than to uphold the rights of others and safeguard their honor. 

Islam teaches us to determine the rights of others by considering our own rights. A person may well know what his own rights are, but fail to honor the rights of others. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim] 

He also said: “Treat others how you wish to be treated.” [Sahîh Muslim] 

In this way, Islam raises the devoted Muslim above selfishness. A Muslim should not act as if the world revolves around him, thinking only to safeguard his own rights and considering nothing of the rights that others have over him. 

Islam has come with a concept that no body of legislation has addressed. This is the notion of “oppression of the self”. Islam seeks to preserves the person from transgressing the rights that he has over his own person. Allah says: “And whoever does evil or oppresses his soul, then asks forgiveness of Allah, he shall find Allah forgiving, merciful.” [Sûrah al-Nisâ’: 110] 

Allah says: “We did them no injustice, but they were unjust to themselves.” [Sûrah al-Nahl: 118] 

Islam has made the individual responsible to police his own conduct in how he fulfills the rights of others. At the same time, Islam has placed in its sacred law legal injunctions to safeguard those rights, in the context of a painstakingly detailed understanding of inter-personal ethics. In this context, it presents a formidable corpus of law to ensure human rights, the rights of women, spousal rights, the rights of citizens, and the rights of children, the rights of labor, and the rights of property owners. These rights, in turn, exist within the context of civil rights, political rights, and economic rights. 

Unfortunately, the prevailing culture in today is one that promotes the violation and crass disregard for the rights of others. It is seen as a matter of course to try and infringe upon the rights of someone else and impose one’s authority whenever one gets the chance. 

This is why the eminent jurist, Ibn Daqîq al-`Id said that the rights of others are “a pit from the pits of Hell, at the precipice of which stand two types of people: those who have knowledge and those who hold political power.” 

He meant that the transgression of the rights of others is often carried out by people who wield political power and by those who have cultural or religious authority. Through such people, political, religious, and social oppression is carried out. 

To prevent injustice, Islam has come with clear and precise ethical injunctions. These are put in place to ensure that the human being can live in dignity, with freedom of speech, or vocation, and of religion. 

Allah says: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 256] 

Allah details many of the civic rights that people have over each other in Sûrah al-Hujurât, verses 11-12:

O you who believe! Let not a folk deride a folk who may be better than they (are), nor let women (deride) women who may be better than they are; neither defame one another, nor insult one another by (offensive) nicknames. Bad is the name of lewdness after faith. And whoever does not turn in repentance, such are evil-doers. 

O you who believe! Shun much suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a crime. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it. And keep your duty (to Allah). Lo! Allah is relenting, merciful.